Career Paths for BankersTMThe 44 most-common bank job
descriptions, the skills and competencies you need to have those
jobs and links to training and development by job title.

Save on Custom Stationery from
Office Depot

Members
of the Georgia Bankers Association (GBA) participating in the GBA’s
Office Depot program can now experience professional, full-service
printing, copying, binding and finishing anytime, anyplace, and at a
discount of 25-35 percent off MSLP. Office Depot can also handle your custom imprinting needs including
business cards, letterhead, envelopes, name plates and badges, and
more.
Learn more about how GBA members can save with Office Depot...

Wow Your Customers with the Latest ATM and other
Service Technology

NCR
is always a leader in hardware and technology to help serve your
customers.
NCR’s family of SelfServTM ATMs offer every transaction in
every location type: cash dispense, multi-function, intelligent deposit,
cash recycling, foreign exchange, bill payment transactions in low or
high volume, interior or exterior, in-branch, off-site or drive-up
locations. And,
the company's Branch Transformation Solutions include interactive
video tellers and other machines to improve customer satisfaction,
and ultimately, deeper customer loyalty.
Learn more about GBA's co-endorsed products from NCR...

A
compressed week for the Georgia General Assembly was not short on
action. Two GBA priority bills were introduced in the House this
week. Both have been assigned to the House Banks and Banking
Committee, and we expect hearings will be held soon. Rep.
Richard Smith (R-Columbus) introduced a bill Thursday (H.B.
824) to clarify that a variety of
routine fees for banking services offered by state chartered banks
and credit unions will not be considered interest. The legislation
is intended to clarify and confirm the Department of Banking and
Finance’s Declaratory Order last July related to overdraft fees.
H.B. 809 by Rep. Bruce Williamson (R-Monroe) deals
with so-called Patent Trolls in that it creates a new section within
the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act that says a person shall not
make a bad-faith assertion that a patent has been infringed.
More details here...

GBA Nominating Committees to Meet
Soon

GBA’s
statewide and odd-numbered Group-level Nominating Committees will be
meeting soon to consider names of bankers to be in leadership
positions with the Association. We encourage bankers interested in
becoming more involved on the Board or as an officer to contact
Joe Brannen, 404.420.2026, who can give you more details
about the process and the time commitment these roles take. “We are
blessed to have over 200 bankers involved in some way with our
committees and boards. These volunteers are integral to our success
in representing the industry,” Brannen said.

A federal
court has granted summary judgment in favor of the Treasury
Department in a lawsuit challenging an IRS regulation that requires
U.S. banks to report annually deposit interest paid to nonresident
aliens. GBA and others opposed the rule, which took effect in
January 2013.
Read more here...

Grassroots Advocacy

Georgia
Bankers Speaking Up;
More Participation Encouraged

Georgia
has the third most participants from states east of the Mississippi
River in a challenge competition for supporting ABA’s grassroots
advocacy system, Amplify. The Amplify website is for any banker (not
just ABA member bankers) wanting to share your story of what it
means to be a banker and how critical policy proposals affect your
bank and community.
Learn how to register for Amplify...

State’s
Unemployment Lowest Since October 2008

About 90,000
more Georgians were employed in December of 2013 compared to the
same month in 2012, said the
Georgia Department of Labor this week. The state
unemployment rate for December fell to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent
in November. In December of 2012, the unemployment rate was 8.7
percent. Most of the annual gains in jobs were in the professional
and business services area, up by 25,100. Trade and transportation
jobs were up by 22,100, and leisure and hospitality jobs were up by
18,500. The number of unemployed Georgians was at its lowest point
since October 2008.

T-Mobile
Joins List of Prepaid Providers

Telecom
giant T-Mobile Wednesday became the largest retailer to begin
offering prepaid cards, said an article in the Washington Post.
The aim of the Mobile Money by T-Mobile service is to be a payment
market disrupter, according to the
company release. The company reported more than 45
million customers at the end of third quarter 2013. “We’ve already
transformed how Americans use and pay for phones, tablets and
wireless service; why stop there?” said John Legere, president and
chief executive officer of T-Mobile.
More details about T-Mobiles push into payments...

Jones Celebrates 60 Years of
Service at The Bank of Perry

Congratulations to Virginia Jones, who this month celebrates
60 years of service to The Bank of Perry. She’s done just about every job at
the bank. When
asked what had changed most about banking she said, “Technology. We
used to put the checks in a cigar box and change was organized in
muffin tins. We’d leave the cigar box open during the day and put a
rock on top of the checks so the breeze from the fan wouldn’t blow
them away.”
More...

Welcome New
Associate Member

We appreciate
Martin Snow, LLP for upgrading its Bank Counsel Section
membership to a full GBA Associate Membership recently. Stuart
Walker is our designated contact at the firm.

Please remember to include the Georgia
Bankers Association on the list of recipients for announcements
about promotions, new employees and special recognition your bank
has received. We want to share your news with your colleagues across
the state. Please forward your announcements and photos to GBA's David Oliver and Bogan Brannen.